The Curriculum includes
- Why train as a Doula/Birthkeeper?
- Reflecting and debriefing of our own Birth stories and exploring our inherent attitudes around Pregnancy, Birth and Mother/Parenthood.
- The role of Doula in a historical light and modern day context.
- What it means to be ‘on call’ and how to prepare, in practical, physical and emotional ways.
- Boundary setting within your Doula Practice.
- Counselling and listening skills; how to ‘read’ non-verbal ques and approach vulnerable subjects.
- An In-depth session on the Stages of Labour including the physiology of birth and the interplay of Hormones within the labouring and birthing process.
- Working with your local healthcare team.
- Birth ‘Plans’: tool of focus or potential for disappointment?
- Pain relief used at home and in hospital.
- Alternative pain relieving methods from cultures and traditions around the world.
- When things don’t go according to ‘plan’.
- Birth preparation methods.
- Birth companionship and how to help; including Active birth positions, Acupressure techniques, massage for labour and birth, use of herbs and homeopathy and breathing ‘techniques’.
- Birth companionship and the Art of Doing Nothing.
- The rise of the Freebirth movement
- Digital and ‘In your pocket’ Doula models
- Where do I begin? Ideas for those first Prenatal / Postnatal sessions.
- Postnatal Doulaing…what might we offer? Walking new parents home to their power, rather than ‘teaching’, signposting, feeding support.
- Self nurturing and co-support for us!
- Networking and working with backups.
- How to set up your practice, set fees and attract clients
- All of our courses have a small piece of reflective pre-coursework for you to complete, but not to hand in, just to initiate a reflective practice and then 3 short pieces of post-coursework which are to hand in, but can be completed by voice note, artwork or in writing.
Our Birth and Postnatal Doula Training Courses offer
- An informal, relaxed but rich learning environment, which is emotionally safe, fun and confidential
- A fully comprehensive folder, with information on many aspects of Doulaing and the childbearing year, references, thought provoking articles and much more
- Full Certification
- Personal tuition and time to address any issues raised, with a one-to-one meeting, upon request
- The opportunity to join Doula UK and / or Conscious Birthing.
It really was an absolutely fabulous week, giving me so much food for thought and surpassed all my expectations. Like I said to you on the last day I don't remember ever feeling so inspired! The way you enabled us to learn, reflect and gain knowledge was brilliant. Being taught by you in such a safe, warm environment really was a privilege.- Fran.
Our TIDE (Trauma Informed Doula Education) Course is a unique Birth Doula Training which includes the foundations of our usual Birth Doula Course curriculum, but extends to cover working with women and birthing people in disadvantage, using a Trauma Informed Toolkit.
This Course enables you to join Doula UK or Doulas Without Borders (DWB) or both. DWB is a Doula service in support of women and birthing. people in financial hardship who are experiencing trauma and disadvantage.
Many participants simply utilise the additional information provided in this training to support them in their service to paying clients and many will choose to offer both paid and voluntary services.
You’ll be a step ahead with TIDE, as you’ll have spent some time considering many approaches to offering Doula support and will also have all the same foundational training as your peers. We want you to feel confident to hold space for women and pregnant people on all their different journeys into motherhood.
We cover the same main topics as our other Birth Doula course, such as the physiology of labour, additionally providing you with a level of understanding and confidence in supporting women who have suffered traumatic times. We consider how best we might support pregnant women who have experienced rape, domestic abuse/survived intimate partner violence or suffered various forms of loss. We look at supporting a woman and her partner through a more complex journey into motherhood/parenthood, alongside supporting physiological birth in less complex settings.
In respect of the uniqueness of each individuals experience and to prevent us from ever presuming expertise, we use the model of Cultural humility and responsiveness and utilise a ‘beginners mind’ approach, rather than calling ourselves 'culturally competent'.
We look at some of the more common triggers during the childbearing year and consider how best to collaborate with our clients in creating practical and empowering strategies for labour and birth. We look at modified Birth Plans, discuss disclosure, safeguarding, debriefing, peer support, self care and more. These topics run alongside our usual learning for the course, enhancing your knowledge base to empower you to confidently work with a more varied client base.
https://www.doulaswithoutborders.comOur 5 day intensive in-person training / 12 week online classes cover:
- The Physiology of labour and birth, the positive feedback loop vs fear-tension-pain cycle
- What happens beyond fight or flight? Looking at the importance of the element of safety for those in chronic/complex trauma
- Working with your clients’ triggers and collaboratively creating strategies,
- Introducing the polyvagal curve and trauma response
- Recognising our own thresholds and developing resiliency
- How might you best support someone experiencing trauma response within the birth room?
- Cultural humility and responsiveness; considering our own cultural story and developing our awareness of other cultures; what needs, wishes, considerations and adversities?
- Practicing ‘beginners mind’ with unconditional positive regard; putting your clients expertise ahead of your own and trusting in the individual’s capacity to find their own best resource and tools
- Learn comfort measures for labour; ‘Medical, Clinical and Homegrown’ options, covering the medical models through to choices such as use of water birth and homeopathy, with consideration and awareness for working with survivors
- ‘Don't panic!’ A session on using trauma informed or imbued language; how language use can affect physiology
- New motherhood/parenthood and postnatal care; supporting women/parents in those tender early days of motherhood, towards self-care, bonding and attachment, integration, resilience and well-being
- Supporting infant feeding for survivors; considerations and conversations
- Joining Doula UK, Doulas Without Borders and more
- Setting up practice; coursework, pathways for next steps, marketing and advertising, codes of practice and confidentiality, ethos and guidelines
All of our courses have a small piece of reflective pre-coursework for you to complete, but not to hand in, just to initiate a reflective practice and then 3 short pieces of post-coursework which are to hand in, but can be completed by voice note, artwork or in writing.
You can find more about Doulas Without Borders at: www.doulaswithoutborders.com
